Question about viv. water

fiend101 · #1 (**permalink**) 08-14-2008, 04:04 PM

I finished my first viv about two weeks ago and I have left it alone to cure.Last night I placed my filter inside of a waterfall I made and started it to let the water begin to cycle.This morning the water was covered with bubbles almost like bubble bath or soap suds.I never used any soaps or detergents to clean the tank so I dont know what could be causing this?Could it be the waterfall churning up the water and if so any idea how to remedy this?

froggsong · #2 (**permalink**) 08-14-2008, 04:22 PM

What did you make the waterfall out of? Did you cover it with anything? I made a fake branch out of GS, both sides covered with the same milled sphagnum peat moss that I usually use, but I ran out of silicone, so I decided to see if you could attach the peat moss using wood glue. It was originally supposed to go in my BP tank, but instead it ended up with one end in my CWD water and the other end leaning against a branch. He really liked it, but the next morning, I went to change his lightbulbs out, and the water was foamy like I had put soap in it. I don't know if this was because of the GS or the wood glue, and even though the wood glue is totally non-toxic, I took it out because I didn't know what was causing it. If you don't think it was something that you used to create your waterfall, just let the water cycle through for a while and see if it clears up. I would recommend that you also do at least partial water changes daily, to remove anything that might have seeped into the water.

fiend101 · #3 (**permalink**) 08-14-2008, 04:25 PM

I used GS to make the waterfall and it was covered with silicone

froggsong · #4 (**permalink**) 08-14-2008, 09:46 PM

Oh my... That is ALOT of foam... That is DEFINITELY more than would be there if it was just the waterfall stirring up the water. I suggest you change the water a few times a day until the foaming problem goes away. You don't want to risk adding anything to the tank and that be caused by something poisonous... Could it be something in your soil? It looks like there is soil right next to the water in the pic, but i can't tell if there is any IN the water...

Waterkeeper · #5 (**permalink**) 08-15-2008, 10:27 PM

Those bubbles are the extraction of something caused by the churning of the water.. water alone wouldn't do that. lets get a full shot of that entire feature, or something that shows the entire function of things....

fiend101 · #6 (**permalink**) 08-16-2008, 03:01 AM

I placed moss where the water exits the filter and it slowed the flow down and there are hardly any bubbles now.Ill post pics of the whole thing asap.

froggsong · #7 (**permalink**) 08-16-2008, 02:42 PM

I'd say it is something maybe coming out of your silicone then... If the water hitting the silicone harder was making the bubbles and now it isn't... Hard to tell for sure though...

Waterkeeper · #8 (**permalink**) 08-16-2008, 03:37 PM

it is the waters contact with air that pulls this stuff to the surface. just because you make the bubbles go away does not mean the cause is gone.

JohnEDove · #9 (**permalink**) 08-16-2008, 04:03 PM

My guess would be a heavy bacterial count in the water/bacterial bloom. The cure is time.

Green Ghost · #10 (**permalink**) 08-18-2008, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fiend101

I placed moss where the water exits the filter and it slowed the flow down and there are hardly any bubbles now.Ill post pics of the whole thing asap.

Did you mean you think the problem is gone now? I'd tend to agree with waterkeeper about the problem possibly still being there.

My solution would be to buy a water test kit if you don't already have one. I would be checking Ph, Hardness, and primarily, Phosphates, at least. Soap is a base so if your water is soft (which it would tend to be if the water was also acidic) but the Ph test says the water is alkaline - value greater than 7.0- then go ahead and see what the Phosphate test says and if that is unusually high then I'd assume you have some soap in there.

Those bubbles look like dishsoap to me (hence the phosphates test) and that's why I mentioned soap before. If you do end up having soap in your water (and you prefer not to tear everything down and start all over again) then you will need to keep a constant rinse going through that setup. Means you'll need to have fresh tap water coming in with a siphon to drain it at the same time.

If your problem is already solved by now, then just disregard this post